Chapter 389 The Situation of the Playoffs! ! ! The 96-97 Season with All Heroes! ! !

On April 20, all regular games in the league ended. The 1996-1997 regular season officially came to an end.

The US NBA will usher in a three-day break, and then enter the first round of the playoffs.

Regular season record rankings in the West:

Los Angeles Lakers 70-12

Utah Jazz 64-18

Houston Rockets 60-22

Seattle SuperSonics 57-25

Portland Trail Blazers 50-32

Phoenix Suns 45-37

Minnesota Forest 42-40

Sacramento Kings 36-46

Los Angeles Clippers 34-48

Golden State Warriors 30-52

Dallas Mavericks 24-58

Denver Nuggets 21-61

San Antonio Spurs 20-62

Vancouver Grizzlies 14-68

There are many historically strong teams in the Western Conference this season, and there are many championship teams. The mid-range teams at the playoff level are somewhat out of gear. This is due to the decline of many veteran playoff teams such as the Spurs, Nuggets, and Warriors. For the sake of the Flying Devil, they did everything they could, and directly lost more than 60 games, which was simply terrifying. Can you believe that a team that won 59 games last season lost 62 games this season? It's so magical, I can only say that it is Popovich.

In the first round, the Lakers played against the Sacramento Kings. The king just killed the Lakers at home. In the eyes of many people, the king has the strength and luck to make a black eight. Although the media could tell that the Lakers were saving their strength and preparing for the playoffs in the last two games, a loss is a loss. The Kings can win in the regular season, why can't they win in the playoffs? Especially Rock Richmond, who is in his prime, is still recognized for his strength. Many media believe that Kobe and him are stronger or weaker, which still needs to be discussed.

The Jazz played against the Timberwolves, and everyone focused on Malone against Garnett and Stockton against Marbury. At present, a very potential duo in the West will face the veteran Utah Shuangsha. Both sides are still in the same position, and many people think that this will be a teaching round. Malone will educate Garnett well and let him hang his thin body on the flesh. Stockton will let Marbury understand what is muscle and what is black hand, and help him mature as soon as possible.

As for whether the Timberwolves have a chance of winning? That is absolutely nothing, the gap between the two teams is too great. Especially the ability of the leading star will be infinitely magnified in the matchup. For the new team of Timberwolves, it is very good to be able to enter the playoffs. Their next goal is to win a victory and avoid being swept as much as possible.

Houston vs. Suns, this series is starting to be interesting. This is a rare fierce confrontation in the first round. Kevin Johnson played better and better under Danny Ainge's system. He was successfully elected as the player of the month in April. He played a wave of 14 consecutive victories at the end of the season, making the Suns the league's best record from mid-March to the end of the season in April. of a team. The addition of Jason Kidd and the integration of Ceballos made this team look brand new.

Especially the Suns are about to face the first generation of tough guy Charles Barkley who "if you can't beat it, join it".

This is embarrassing. I wonder if Barkley will have some self-blame in his heart when facing these former teammates? A finals-level team fell apart because of Barkley's departure. It is worth looking forward to what kind of performance Barkley will have in the playoffs against his former owner.

The Supersonics played against the Trail Blazers. The record and strength of the two teams are the closest. Last year's Western Conference Finals winner, the Supersonics, has fallen from No. 1 in the West to No. 4 this season. They have a lot of fire, especially Payton. Last year, he was still the most versatile defender after Jordan, but this year he has been left behind by Kobe. Payton vowed to avenge the Lakers, and they have a chance, as long as they beat the Trail Blazers, they can play against the Lakers in the second round.

The breakout situation in the West is not very clear. The media generally believes that the hard power of the Lakers, Jazz, and Houston is almost the same. And the Lakers are very likely to be hacked by the Sonics, and there must be a battle between the Jazz and Houston. In this way, the situation in the Western Conference is very uncertain, and no team can guarantee that it can win the Western Conference Championship.

This is different in the East.

On the other hand, the East's regular season record rankings:

Chicago Bulls 71-11

Miami Heat 62-20

New York Knicks 57-25

Detroit Pistons 56-26

Atlanta Hawks 54-28

Charlotte Hornets 54-28

Orlando Magic 47-35

Washington Bullets 44-38

Cleveland Cavaliers 42-40

Indiana Pacers 35-47

Milwaukee Bucks 33-49

Philadelphia 76ers 32-50

Toronto Raptors 30-52

New Jersey Nets 26-56

Boston Celtics 15-67

Overall, the situation in the East is one super and many strong. A historic team, the Bulls, is empty for a day, and there are not many other championship-level teams. The heat that has just formed the Big Three is still young, the average age of the Knicks is too old, and the Pistons struggled after Hill was targeted. These teams all have fatal flaws, and these flaws make them doomed to be unable to become a championship-level team. But their 50-win teams are much more than the West, and there are still many mid-level playoff-level teams. It can be said that these eight teams have no underdogs. Even the Bullets with the worst record have twin stars like Speed ​​and Webber.

There are many bad teams in the East, and the Boston Celtics are the best among them. The Cardinal didn't even want to lose face for the second Russell, and lost 67 games directly than the Spurs! It was crazy, Kobe admired the cardinal's determination very much. You must know that Boston fans are not people who can tolerate the team's poor performance. Those crazy fans have bloodied Boston's management this season, and they almost want the Cardinal to step down. But they do have a reason to do so. Some internal contradictions in Boston forced Larry Bird away, making the most popular star in team history and the current number one small forward in league history go away directly. What the fans can't tolerate, coupled with the wonderful 67 losses, Boston, a team with the most championships in history, is now very unpopular with its fans.

But Auerbach believes that as long as he can get the second Russell, then building a team around him is worthwhile. With Victor Flying Devil, Auerbach has the confidence to win another 8 championships around him!

The Bulls played against the Bullets in the first round, and no one thought there would be any suspense in this round of the playoffs. Jordan is notoriously ruthless in the playoffs. He has never lost when the team faced the leading opponent in the lineup. This round of competition is to test the potential of the Washington Twins.

The Heat played against the Magic, and there are a lot to watch in this round of the playoffs. Penny Hardaway dragged his sick leg and still dragged the team to 47 wins. I don't know if it's because of the butterfly effect, or some physical therapy that Kobe told Hardaway. Hardaway's injury recovery is much better than in the previous life, and the team's record is also higher than before. What kind of performance will Hardaway and Cobra Hoss Grant have in front of the Heat's poor version of SHOWTIME. It is worth looking forward to whether Hardaway, the recognized superstar in the past two years, can prove that he still has the ability of a superstar after leaving O'Neal.

The New York Knicks overtook the Pistons at the last minute and squeezed into the third position in the Eastern Conference. The old strong team still has the background of the old strong team. Although Ewing has declined a lot this season, the overall strength of the team is still much stronger than most teams in the East. The Hornets on the other side have Glenn Rice, who is fourth on the scoring list. Can Rice beat Van Gundy's defense on the offensive end in this round?

The fourth-ranked Pistons in the Eastern Conference have been driving high and low this season. Grant Hill's performance was among the top three in the league before the All-Star Game. The performance of 30+10+10 in a single month makes people marvel at the emergence of the next phenomenal star. But when he faced a targeted defense, because the range and offense were not decisive enough, and the team's space was too small. These factors made him slide quickly. This season, Hill only averaged 23.6 points, 9.0 rebounds, 7.3 assists, 1.8 steals, 0.6 blocks and 3.2 turnovers per game.

It seems to be perfect, but as the core of the team, he seems to have a little sense of existence. After all, he only averaged 16.7 shots per game, which is a bit small compared to other superstars.

Under the coaching of Lenny Wilkens and the defensive bonus of new aid Dikembe Mutombo, the Hawks quietly won the fifth place in the Eastern Conference.

Uncle Mu is very likely to win the best defensive player this season, because his defensive bonus to the Eagles is too obvious. His existence is like a wall, allowing Wilkens to deploy troops without worrying about defensive issues. Uncle Mu's official age is 31 years old, but his movement speed is not slow at all, and his super sense of blocking shots and rebounding ability allow him and Laettner to attack and defend together, perfectly forming a top insider combination. The Eagles' insiders are now among the top three in the league. Perhaps only Houston and the Knicks can match them. Even the Lakers are not as good. After all, O'Neal is surrounded by a hermaphrodite like Campbell.

Wilkens relies on Mutombo to create a defensive system, plus Steve Smith and Laettner, Mucci Blayrock creates an offensive system. The average points per game of the three are 20.1, 18.1, and 17.4 respectively. Almost all three of them averaged more than 20 points per game. Wilkens was able to use such three stars to create a poor man's trident. People can't help admiring that his coaching ability is really at a historical level.

The confrontation between the Pistons and the Eagles is very worthy of attention. Can Grant Hill, the league's most popular and All-Star voter, lead the team to win the Eagles who are all soldiers? This is also something that many expert commentators have their own rhetoric about.

However, it is recognized in the East that the Bulls' breakthrough in the East is a sure thing. Perhaps only the Heat can really fight the Bulls twice. When other teams meet the serious Michael Jordan, they are the result of solving the battle within 4 or 5 games. Most people also think that the game between the Heat and the Bulls can be over within 6 games. The Bulls' dominance in the East is too strong. There is still a big gap between the West and the West.